Incinerator for burning compacted material



WW G. B. mxom ET AL INCINERATOR FOR BURNING COMPACTED MATERIAL FiledApril 26, 1968 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 M cq dww/i/mxm E E1. .5225 m2 s. a.DIXON ET AL fifiWfiW INCINERATOR FOR BURNING COMPACTED MATERIAL FiledApril 26., 1968 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 mm MUM ET AL '[NCINERAIOR FOR BURNINGCOMPACTED MATERIAL Filed April 26, 1968 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 m5 G. B. mxoNET AL WWW INCINERATOR FOR BURNING COMPACTED MATERIAL Filed April 26.1968 5 Sheetsfiheet GEUrgelEr. XUTL 171 2.}? 17251 WW G. whammy ET ALEAW WE INCINEHATOR FOR BURNING COMPACTED MATERIAL United States PatentUS. Cl. 1108 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An incinerator havingcommunicating primary and secondary combustion chambers in which theprimary combustion chamber is a rotating drum and the secondarycombustion chamber is defined by stationary walls, one of which has around hole into which the open rear end of the drum projects. Apartition wall behind the wall with the round hole divides the secondarycombustion chamber into front and rear compartments that arecommunicated through a flame port in the partition wall. A stationarywall with a charging opening closes the front end of the drum. Aperforate partition wall in the front compartment of the secondarycombustion chamber extends across the open rear end of the drum to blockdirect passage of fly ash from the drum to the flame port. Inwardlydirected projections on the wall of the drum tumble its contents as thedrum rotates, and a tiltably mouted base on which the drum is rotatablysupported is adjustable up and down to enable the drum to be disposedwith its axis at an inclination to the horizontal.

This invention relates to incinerators and has as its purpose and objectto provide an incinerator capable of completely ad quickly burningcompacted material of all types, such as packed or stacked paper,magazines, I.B.M. cards and wet refuse.

Combustion of compacted material is extremely diflicult, and completecombustion thereof within a reasonable time has been impossible withincinerators heretofore available, and could not 'be done at all inthose incinerators except by constant manual stoking. But with theincinerator of this invention, even the most diflicult to burn of thesematerials is easily handled without any manual attention, beyondthrowing the material into the incinerator. To illustrate, anincinerator built in accordance with this invention and having overalldimensions of six feet in width and height, and ten feet in length, willburn twohundred and thirty-five pounds of packed and cartoned I.B.M.cards in one hour, and in doing so will successfully and fully meet themost stringent air pollution abatement regulations.

The secret to the success of this invention lies in its provision of aslowly rotating drum which provides the primary combustion chamber ofthe incinerator, and which has inwardly projecting fingers to engage andtumble the material and work it away from the exit end of the drum andkeep breaking it up to assure its combustion; and a novel arrangement ofbaffles in a stationary secondary combustion chamber which assurescomplete combustion of any and all material and combustible gases thatare not consumed in the primary combustion chamber.

While it is not broadly new to combine a rotating retort with astationary furnace chamber, none of the prior art adaptations of thiscombination has been capable of achieving the results accomplished withthis invention. Examples of prior art that has been considered in thisconnection are the following patents: Duryee No. 652,670; Seelbach No.1,232,724; Drew No. 1,835,147; Allen et al. No. 2,088,225 and Gates, Jr.et al. No. 3,173,389.

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With these observations and objects in mind, the manner in which theinvention achieves its purpose will be appreciated from the followingdescription and the accompanying drawings. This disclosure is intendedmerely to exemplify the invention. The invention is not limited to theparticular structure disclosed, and changes can be made therein whichlie within the scope of the appended claims without departing from theinvention.

The drawings illustrate one complete example of the physical embodimentof the invention constructed according to the best mode so far devisedfor the practical application of the principles thereof, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of an incinerator constructed inaccordance with this invention, showing the same completely installedand operative so that the burners which direct flame into its primaryand secondary com bustion chambers with their fuel and electrical supplyconduits, as Well as guards for the drive mechanism, are shown in thisview, those details being omitted from the other views for sake ofclarity;

FIGURE 2 is a side view of the incinerator with parts broken away and insection;

FIGURE 3 is a cross sectional view through FIGURE 2 on the plane of theline 3-3;

FIGURE 4 is a cross sectional view through FIGURE 2 on the plane of theline 4-4;

FIGURE 5 is a horizontal sectional view through FIG- URE 2 on the planesdelineated by the line 5-5;

FIGURE 6 is a side view of the incinerator at a reduced scale toillustrate the adjustability of its primary combustion chamber; and

FIGURE 7 is a top view at the same reduced scale employed for FIGURE 6,illustrating the simplicity with which another stage can be added to thesecondary combustion chamber, if desired.

Referring to the drawings in which like numerals designate like parts,the numeral 8 designates generally the primary combustion chamber of theincinerator, into which the materials to be burned are deposited througha charging or feed opening 9 provided with doors 10; and from which anyunconsumed material and combustible gases, as well as the products ofcombustion, pass into a secondary combustion chamber designatedgenerally by the numeral 11.

The primary combustion chamber consists essentially of a rotating drum12 and a stationary wall 13 which closes the front end of the drum andhas the charging opening located therein. The rear end of the drum opensto the secondary combustion chamber 11 through a round hole 14 in itsfront wall 15, into which the rear end portion of the drum projects.

The secondary combustion chamber is preferably of modular or sectionalconstruction, as in the Naulin Patent No. 2,805,633; but in any event itcomprises-in addition to the front wall .15an upright rear wall 16, sidewalls 17 and 18, a roof 19 and a floor or bottom wall A flue gas outlet21 in the rear portion of the roof provides means for connecting thesecondary combustion chamber with a chimney or stack.

The secondary combustion chamber is divided into two compartments by apartition wall 23 which is normally referred to in the industry as abridge wall. This wall extends from side wall to side wall and fromfloor to ceiling between the front and rear walls of the secondarycombustion chamber. Hence, one of the two compartments thus formed canbe designated a front compartment 24 and the other a rear compartment25. These compartments are communicated with one another through anopening 26 in the partition or bridge wall, generally called a flameport.

In the bottom of the front compartment 24 at a level slightly below thelower edge of the round hole 14, is a grate 27. This grate may consistof a number of parallel T-bars resting at one end upon a ledge 28secured to the inner face of the side wall 17, and supported at theiropposite ends on a similar ledge 29 which is fixed to the lower edgeportion of a downwardly sloping wall 30 supported by the side wall 18,the front wall 15 and the partition wall 23.

A clean-out opening 31 provided with a door 32-as shown in FIGURE4-extends above and below the grate 27. A similar clean-out opening witha door 33 is provided for the rear compartment 25.

The rear compartment 25 has a partition wall 34 extending fore and aftbetween the partition wall 23 and the rear wall .16, and downwardly fromthe roof 9 to an elevation spaced above the bottom or floor. As shown inFIGURE 5, the partition wall 34, which is generally referred to as adrop wall, forms a continuation of the side of the flame port which isin the partition wall 23 and, being so located, divides the rearcompartment 25 into a throat 35 and an expansion chamber 36, the latterhaving the flue gas outlet 21 in its roof.

The lower edge of the drop wall 34 is curved, as shown in FIGURE 2, toassure uniform distribution of the gases across the expansion chamber asthey leave the throat and flow towards the flue gas outlet.

As is customary, all of the walls of the secondary coinbustion chamberare constructed of refractory material suitably reinforced and jacketed.The drum 12 likewise consists of a refractory cylinder 38 within a metalshell 39. The drum is rotatably supported on a base 40 constructed ofstructural members including side rails 41 and cros members 42, 43 and44, the latter being at the front end of the base.

Each of the two cross members 43 has two rollers 45 mounted thereon tosupportingly engage one of two circular tires or tracks 46 which arefixed to and encircle the drum. The drum is held against shiftingaxially from its position in which the circular tracks 46 ride therollers 45, by a pair of guide rolls 47 rotatably mounted on the crossmembers 42 and engaging the inner edges of the circular tracks.Preferably the tires or tracks 46 are lengths of channel iron rolled toproper shape and size, with their webs outermost and their flangesfacing inwardly to engage and be secured to longitudinally extendingstructural reinforcing members 48, suitably secured to the metal shell39.

Between the tracks 46, a ring 49 encircles the drum and, like the tracks46, is secured to the longitudinally extending members 48. Atperipherally spaced intervalssee FIGURE 3-the ring 49 has tooth-formingprojections 50 fixed thereto to be engaged by a sprocket chain 51 whichencircles the ring 49 and is trained over a drive sprocket 52. Thesprocket 52 constitutes the output of an electric motor driven gearreduction unit 53.

As indicated hereinbefore, the front end of the drum is closed by thewall 13 which, like the other walls of the incinerator, is essentiallyformed of refractory material but, of course, suitably reinforced. It isfixedly supported on the front end portion of the base 40 by uprights 54and diagonal braces 55. The charging opening 9 in the Wall 13 is at thelower end of a downwardly sloping chute 56 which projects from the frontof the wall 13 and has the doors hingedly mounted thereon. The doorspreferably have shuttered inlet openings 57 and, of course, handles 58.

The front Wall 13 of the primary combustion chamber and the side wall 17of the secondary combustion chamber are each provided with a burner port60 through which flame is projected from a gas or oil fired burner 61.The burners are, of course, suitably supported and have the necessaryfuel supply lines and electrical control lines leading thereto, as shownin FIGURE 1, but omitted from the other figures of the drawings.

The primary combustion chamber burner directs its flame rearwardly andtoward the axis of the drum, and the secondary combustion chamber burnerprojects its flame into the front compartment at a downward angle, sothat in each case the flame is most effectively located.

Fingers projects inwardly from the wall of the drum to engage, tumbleand break up the material deposited in the drum through the chargingopening. These fingers are inclined toward the front end of the drum, sothat as the material slides off of them, it tends to move toward thefront of the drum and away from its rear end which opens to thesecondary combustion chamber. Premature passage of the material from theprimary combustion chamber is thus fairly well prevented.

Toward the same objective, the secondary combustion chamber has aperforate partition wall 67 extending partially across the round hole 14and hence across the open rear end of the drum. This partition wall isbuilt up of refractory brick arranged in checkerboard fashion so as toleave openings 68 through the wall. The wall rests upon one of the barsof the grate 27 and hence extends from a level beneath the lower edge ofthe hole 14. The upper edge of this perforate partition wall, as bestseen in FIGURE 3, is disposed at an angle to the horizontal so that itis higher at one side of the hole 14 than at the other. Since the wall67 is highest at the side of the hole nearest the flame port 26, it liesathwart the shortest path from the drum to the flame port, and therebyforces fly ash and the like leaving the primary combustion chamber totake a circuitous path up and over the wall, or through the openings 68in the wall. In either event, large pieces of fly ash are broken upbefore they reach the flame port.

Although the forwardly inclined disposition of the fingers 65 fairlywell retains the material in the rotating drum until it is almostcompletely combusted, this result can be further assured by having thedrum slope downwardly towards its front end, and to permit suchdisposition of the drum, the base 40 upon which it is rotatablysupported is pivotally mounted at its rear end, as at 70 and adjustablysupported at its front end by jack screws 71.

The pivotal support 70 comprises a web 72 welded to the underside ofeach side rail 41 and received between a pair of upstanding ears 73 towhich the webs are connected by pins 74. The jack screws 71 are threadedin nut members, not shown, fixed to the front end portion of the baseand have their lower ends bearing upon pads 75. Thus, as illustrated bythe dotted line position of the primary combustion chamber in FIGURE 6,the axis of the drum may be adjusted to slope downwardly toward thefront.

As best seen in FIGURE 4, secondary combustion air enters the throat ofthe secondary combustion chamber through an air admission port 77 in theside wall adjacent to the flame port. This air admission port opens to apassage or chase 78 in the partition wall 23 and communicates with thethroat through progressively larger outlet ports 79, 80 and 81. The airadmission port 77 is covered by a hood 82 which opens downwardly and hasan adjustable damper 83 across its mouth to control the volume of airpassing through the port 77.

If additional secondary combustion is needed, a second stage secondarycombustion chamber can be easily added as shown in FIGURE 7. To do sosimply involves converting the rear wall 16 into a partition or bridgewall 85 and increasing the size of the secondary combustion chamber toprovide a duplicate second rear compartment 86, which then, in fact,becomes a third compartment in the secondary combustion chamber.

The drop wall 87 of this third compartment is near the side wallopposite that at which the drop Wall 36 is located, and of course theflue gas outlet leads from the third compartment rather than the second.

OPERATION In operating the incinerator, the motor driven drive for thedrum 12 and burners 60' are, of course, first activated, and then thematerial to be combusted is charged into the rotating drum. Here it iscontinually tumbled and broken up by the inwardly directed fingers 65which Work the material towards the front of the drum and keep it fromleaving the drum until it is practically e11- tirely combusted. Thatpart of the material which is not fully combusted in the drum whichconstitutes the primary combustion chamber of the incineratorand, ofcourse, all combustible gaseous constituents released from the materialand the uncombustible products of combustionpass on into the firstcompartment 24 of the secondary combustion chamber.

To reach the secondary combustion chamber, the material must flow overthe perforate partition wall 67 or through the apertures therein so thatall large pieces of fly ash will be broken up and prevented fromtraveling directly to the flame port 26.

In the compartment 24 of the secondary combustion chamber, thecombustion continues so that by the time the second compartment 25 whichprovide an expansion chamber is reached, very little uncombustedmaterials remains. In any event, the flue gases that leave the expansionchamber through the flue gas outlet 21 are completely devoid ofcombustible gases, fly ash, or any other air pollutants.

What is claimed as our invention is:

1. An incinerator for burning compacted material, comprising:

(A) structure defining primary and secondary combustion chambers in opencommunication with one another,

the structure defining the primary combustion chamber comprisingstationary upright wall means having a charging opening through whichmaterial to be burned is introduced into the in cinerator, and arotatable drum with its axis substantially horizontal and one of itsends contiguous to said upright wall means to be closed thereby, thestructure defining the secondary combustion chamber comprising fixedexterior walls, certain of which are upright, one of said upright wallshaving a round role in which the opposite end of the drum is received,another of said exterior walls having an outlet opening through whichflue gases leave the incinerator, and internal bafiie walls between saidround hole and the flue gas outlet opening;

(B) means mounting the drum for rotation about its axis;

(C) power means connected with the drum for rotating the same;

(D) spaced inward projections on the wall of the drum to engage andtumble the contents of the drum as it rotates;

(E) burner means arranged to direct flame into the primary combustionchamber;

(F) burner means arranged to direct flame into the secondary combustionchamber, and

the incinerator being characterized in that one of the baffle walls ofthe secondary combustion chamber extends across the secondary combustionchamber in spaced relation to said exterior upright wall in which theround hole is located, and laterally beyond the side edges of said hole,to divide the secondary combustion chamber into a front compartmentwhich communicates with the interior of the drum and extends beyond theside edges of the round hole, and rear compartment from which the fluegas outlet leads,

said batfle wall having a flame port to communicate the front and rearcompartments, said flame port being in an upper portion of the partitionwall which lies laterally beyond one side edge of the round hole.

2. The incinerator of claim 1, further characterized by a perforatebaffle wall in the front compartment of the secondary combustion chamberextending partially across said round hole and the adjacent open end ofthe drum.

3. The incinerator of claim 2, wherein said perforate baflle wallextends upwardly from a level beneath the lower edge of said round holeto a height sufilcient to cover substantially one-half of said roundhole,

the upper edge of said perforate baffle wall being inclined to thehorizontal so that said baflle wall is higher at one side of the roundhole than at the other side thereof,

the higher portion of the baflie wall being at the side of the holewhich is nearest the flame port.

4. The incinerator of claim 1, wherein the means for rotatably mountingthe drum comprises a base on which the drum is rotatably seated,

and means supporting the base for limited up and down tilting adjustmentabout a horizontal axis parallel to and near the bottom of the uprightexterior wall in which the round hole is located,

whereby the drum may be disposed with its axis tilted from horizontal.

5. The incinerator of claim 4, wherein the base has a part thereofadjacent to each end of the drum and wherein the means for tiltablysupporting the base comprises fulcrum means at the part of the basewhich is at the rear end of the drum, and

adjustable support means engaging another part of the base to supportthe front end of the drum.

6. The incinerator of claim 1, wherein one of the exterior Walls of thesecondary combustion chamber constitutes a roof for said chamber andothers of said exterior walls are side walls thereof, wherein saidbafiie wall identified in claim 1 extends from side Wall to side walland to the roof, and

wherein the flame port is adjacent to the roof and one of said sidewalls, and

further characterized by an air admission port in said side wall and apassageway in said baflle wall beneath the flame port, to which said airinlet port opens and from which air outlet openings lead to deboucheinto the rear compartment.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS KENNETH W. SPRAGUE, PrimaryExaminer US Cl. X.R.

